Posted on 08/04/2005 12:43:01 PM PDT by Crackingham
A leading Republican senator allied with the religious right differed on Thursday with President Bush's support for teaching an alternative to the theory of evolution known as "intelligent design."
Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, a possible 2008 presidential contender who faces a tough re-election fight next year in Pennsylvania, said intelligent design, which is backed by many religious conservatives, lacked scientific credibility and should not be taught in science classes.
Bush told reporters from Texas on Monday that "both sides" in the debate over intelligent design and evolution should be taught in schools "so people can understand what the debate is about."
"I think I would probably tailor that a little more than what the president has suggested," Santorum, the third-ranking Republican member of the U.S. Senate, told National Public Radio. "I'm not comfortable with intelligent design being taught in the science classroom."
Evangelical Christians have launched campaigns in at least 18 states to make public schools teach intelligent design alongside Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Proponents of intelligent design argue that nature is so complex that it could not have occurred by random natural selection, as held by Darwin's 1859 theory of evolution, and so must be the work of an unnamed "intelligent cause."
Santorum is the third-ranking member of the U.S. Senate and has championed causes of the religious right including opposition to gay marriage and abortion. He is expected to face a stiff challenge from Democrat Bob Casey in his quest for re-election next year in Pennsylvania, a major battleground state in recent presidential elections.
SNIP
"What we should be teaching are the problems and holes -- and I think there are legitimate problems and holes -- in the theory of evolution. What we need to do is to present those fairly, from a scientific point of view," he said in the interview.
"As far as intelligent design is concerned, I really don't believe it has risen to the level of a scientific theory at this point that we would want to teach it alongside of evolution."
"we want the school to teach my religious view to kids other than my own."
Bingo! We have a winnah, folks!
They certainly should NOT say that.
As if people don't believe that God is the Creator!
That is precisely the area that science shouldn't meddle in, and precisely the area where some try to interject their atheist faith into the classroom.
HE didn't, NPRavda did. Santorum recently had a very successful talk show rounder, making headway on getting the sheeple to understand that embryonic stem cell research is worthless, while adult stem cell research currently has 65 approved treatments and growing.
He and Brownback are doing a spectacular job getting that message out, and the media are scared to death that the truth about the worthlessness of embryonic stem cells will quickly catch fire among the swing crowd.
So the plan is what? Quit teaching science after 5th grade?
Believing a theory based on unproven speculation.
Or believing the other, based on the falicies of the other?
Well, actually ID has no empirical data base at all. Whereas evolution has megatons of data which support its theoretical assertions. A theory in science is not just a hunch or wild speculation. A theory in science comes about only after many years of data collection, hypothesis formation and testing (which is a continuous process). Then, after many scientists and many years' of work, there may emerge a theory on the topic in question. Thus, in the scientifc sense, ID is not even a theory, nor a hypothesis, but rather merely conjecture.
"Obviously someone who doesn't have a clue as to what they're talking about."
"Either the entire universe developed from absolutly nothing on its own accord."
The TOE now includes cosmology? Hmmm.
There are hundreds of fundamentalist FReepers who will assure you that a day in Genesis has to be literally read as a day. What you're telling me is that given the liberty to read Genesis in other ways besides exactly literally, there is no conflict with science.
I have no problem with that.
We're late getting into this thread, but Santorum is important, so I'm cranking up the ping machine.
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.... beer is Satan's soda.
So what?
MY guess is he DIDNT make a big issue of it,
but made a reasonable response when hounded by NPR on the issue.
It's a no-win... either you are a rock-throwing social conservative or you are splitting hairs with the White House.
If you say 'no comment' NPR will raise eyebrows "afraid to answer key questions" ...
This is not really a relevant issue for a U.S. Senator but so be it.
NPR will abuse the comment as best they can to undermine Santorum and/or Bush, but I think his response reflected good "Intelligent Design".
Good answer, Rick.
So when they tell me they want to teach that to my kids in public school, I have a problem.
"So, as usual, the entire concern is for what other children will learn in school - IOW, we want the school to teach my religious view to kids other than my own."
This is what is so bothersome about the anti-anti-evolutionists and the liberal secularists who insist that we not 'impose' certain religious viewpoints, while insisting that *their* viewpoints are imposed exclusively ...
You ask for 'school choice' to help get around this issues and they react like you want to re-institute slavery...
What, let *parents* decide how their *own* kids get educated? And not the all-knowing State?!? Horrors!!
School Choice is a wonderful answer to many of these questions.
Better yet, teach them that there's only one respectable point of view, ridicule all the others and people who hold to them, laugh at them if they even question the dogmatic orthodoxy you're shoving down their mind-numbed throats, ridicule them mercilessly if they even show the slightest sign of thinking for themselves or approaching science with a hint of academic skepticism, and then watch as the school system marches out millions of little brainwashed secular humanist idiots just as Mann and Dewey hoped.
Oh, wait...
It can safely be taught in social studies class, as are other sports and shoots of the modern world.
" HE didn't, NPRavda did. Santorum recently had a very successful talk show rounder, making headway on getting the sheeple to understand that embryonic stem cell research is worthless, while adult stem cell research currently has 65 approved treatments and growing.
He and Brownback are doing a spectacular job getting that message out, and the media are scared to death that the truth about the worthlessness of embryonic stem cells will quickly catch fire among the swing crowd."
Glad to hear that... santorum will need help in 2006 to beat back a real challenge, and conservatives need to step up and help out one of the best conservative senators that we have.
How about presenting the theory that the stork brings the babies in biology class. After all that is a theory too, and the kids should hear both sides.
You want to presentInteligent Design, fine, have the home room teacher do it when the day opens, but it is a fraud to present it in a science class.
So9
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